Outsourced vs Online Training - What actually works?

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With companies spending so much time, money and effort in training their employees, they want to ensure they are getting the most out of their investment. The key is finding a training method that will be the most efficient and cost effective in the development of their staff. Although companies have traditionally been turning to outsourced training methods, this is no longer the case.

In a bid to remain competitive and provide high-quality training, companies have turned to Web-based learning. We can see the movement in this trend as the average spending on outsourced training decreased from $592,679 in 2012 to $140,345 in 2013, as noted by The Industry Report. This is helping companies to not only save money, but valuable time and resources as well. This kind of training will also appeal to the new generation entering the workforce, Gen Y, which is already helping to shape the future of the business world. As this survey noted, these days employees want to work for companies that readily embrace the advantages that technology can offer a business.

As most companies have come to realize, and as Tom Stewart of Intellectual Capital noted, knowledge is the most valuable and powerful asset a company can have. By allowing employees to develop, you will not only create a more valuable and productive employee, but you will also have a better chance of retaining your top talent. Instead of employees looking elsewhere for an opportunity to develop themselves, they can remain at the company and still fulfill their needs for further learning. Keeping your most valuable employees is vital if you want to remain competitive in your market.

With companies spending as much as $164.2 billion on the training and development of their staff in 2012, it comes as no surprise that more efficient learning tools are being sought out. At the end of the day, there is no point investing so much time and effort into the training of your employees if you are not getting the most out of it. We have taken a look at some of the key facts and figures around outsourced and online training, which will help us to gain a better understanding of how companies have been spending their time and money. This has also helped to show us just how effective these different training methods are.

We have combined this information for your easy use in an infographic (click here for the larger version):